Clinker brick classic in popular school zone fails to sell at auction

A three-bedroom “clinker brick classic” home in the popular McKinnon school zone passed in on a vendor’s bid of $1.55 million at auction on Saturday.

One of the two expected bidders, both developers, made an offer of $1.58 million after auction for 265 McKinnon Road, but it wasn’t enough to seal the deal. The home is now available for its reserve price of $1,645,000.

The property was one of 570 scheduled to go to auction in Melbourne last week. By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 60 per cent from 367 reported results throughout the week, while 65 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.

The 60 per cent clearance was an improvement on last week’s early read of 55 per cent, though it is still expected to be revised downwards once more results are received.

The family home in the popular McKinnon Secondary College zone is in need of a major renovation.

On 641 square metres of land, it featured original interiors, including patterned green carpeting, and had been advertised with a guide of $1.6 million to $1.7 million.

Selling agency Jellis Craig’s chief executive officer, Andrew McCann, said that in a balanced market, buyers were happy to raise their hands to bid, however, it had become a little tougher in the current market.

“We’re not seeing the enthusiasm for people to bid aggressively,” McCann said. “That in itself is reflective of where the market is at.”

McCann said he expected the sale of the property to come together in a “narrow timeframe”.

He said the struggling clearance rate was expected at this time of year given it was winter and he expected activity and sales to improve in spring.

“We do anticipate a lower clearance rate in July because it’s not the traditional selling season, but we have seen the clearance rate improve in the past fortnight,” McCann said, referring to his own agency’s sales.

“With a better quality of stock going into a more traditional selling period, we would expect clearance rates to improve throughout the remainder of the year.”

In Brunswick East, an architecturally designed townhouse with four bedrooms sold under the hammer for $1.77 million, above the $1.65 million reserve, to a man moving back to Melbourne from overseas.

The property at 17a Roberts Street had been owned by the vendor for six years, and was advertised with a guide of $1.55 million to $1.65 million.

Bidding opened at $1.55 million, with the buyer making the first offer. He competed with another couple, with both trading mostly $20,000 bids to push the price higher.

The stylish, low maintenance townhouse was called on the market at $1.65 million, and competition ratcheted up from there, quickly reaching $1.75 million. A final knockout bid of $20,000 won the buyer the keys.

Nelson Alexander Brunswick’s Rick Daniel said they had been expecting three bidders on the day, but stiff competition from the two other bidders meant the third did not get a chance to raise their hand.

“It’s a very dynamic market now,” Daniel said. “The common theme is that new or newly renovated properties in a good area will sell well.

“There are buyers for everything, but it really depends on whether the vendors are willing to meet the market.”

Meanwhile in Fawkner, a renovated four-bedroom house at 20 Hedley Street also sold under the hammer for $1,225,000, above the $1.21 million reserve.

The renovated red brick property had a $1.2 million to $1.3 million guide.

Three bidders, all families competed for the home, with bidding opening at $1.15 million.

The three traded $20,000 and $10,000 offers, but ultimately, the buyer had to bid on top of themselves to secure the sale, said Ray White Glenroy selling agent Omer Koksal.

The vendors had owned the property since 2015, undertaking a major renovation and extension of the home which included a modern, open-plan kitchen and living area, and lots of storage.

Koksal said the market had recently been “a bit of a grind” given interest rate rises had hit buyers, but good sales were still happening.

“Homes that are turnkey are definitely still selling well,” Koksal said. “It was quite an active campaign itself before the auction … and buyers that miss out in Coburg come to Fawkner.”